Supreme Court upholds High Court judgement on the appointment of Information Commissioners

Thursday, April 20, 2017 New Delhi/Hyderabad

The Supreme Court today on Thursday struck down the appointment of four Information Commissioners viz., Varre Venkateswarulu, Tantia Kumari, Intiaz Ahmad and Vijaya Nirmala who were appointed by the State Government in 2013.

The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice J.S.Khehar upholds the High Court judgement. In its order, the Apex court said that political parties’ activists cannot be made commissioners to this important organ which has to uphold the people’s right to know. The appointees did not sever their political affiliations before joining the commission said the Division Bench.

Of the six commissioners working with the commission, four will go on account of Thursday's judgement. Of the remaining two, one will retire on April 22 and the other on May 15.